So apprehensive… yet another tea on the quest to find the perfect pear tea! Honestly, a black is not my base of choice, but Simpson & Vail did well with their pear-flavoured black tea, so I’m hopeful that this might be a contender.

The aroma of the brewed tea is of a bit of a floral pear; not quite what I’m looking for, but not necessarily bad either, as it is just the aroma. The sip, however, is clearly rather floral, but definitely tastes like pear, albeit a floral, fakey sort. There’s a bit of astringency from the base as well, but a drop in infusion time could probably remedy that.

This tea does have a fair bit of flavour, and it is tasty, but it’s too floral for me to really enjoy as a pear tea, and I want more of a realistic pear flavour. The search continues.

Thanks Kashyap – I’ll add that to my shopping list. The tea I had from S&V happened to be pear/ginger as well, and I do like ginger, so that sounds like it could be worth a shot if I can get my hands on some!

Darky – ewwwwwwwww lol. I’m so glad that DNA testing was done on hamburger meat from various local sources by my university, and EVERYTHING was found to be 100% beef (when it was supposed to be).

A local place carries TWO pear teas, but unfortunately they don’t do any online ordering. There’s an Asian Pear green, and a Bartlett rooibos. If you’re interested I could ask for samples, but you’d have to be OK with a fellow Steepster as a shipper. :) I can’t stand pear flavour, so any testing I did of them would be incredibly biased!

kittena, so long that not is wrong with the horse meat (quality wise) i don’t mind eating horsemeat. Here in Belgium we eat it on a regular base but the labels on the packaging should be correct thats for sure. But i feel its a very big waste destroying or trowing away good food just because the type off meat is different… if it was contaminated with all kinds off weird stuff ok then its normal but now? :)

OMGsrsly – ooooh, I totally want details! I see you’re in Vancouver; depending on whereabouts the tea shop is, I could possibly have my aunt pick some sample up for me and send them as she lives in Burnaby. Not that I’d have any problem at all being sent samples from a fellow Steepster :D

darky – I think the biggest problem is mislabeling, and the fact that horses are not considered food here. I don’t personally think I could stomach it, even though I know it’s really very little different from beef or any other meat. Just like I don’t think I could eat dog or cat (though that’s a bit different, as they’re also carnivores, which we don’t typically consume meat from).

It’s Steam Tea House in Donald’s Market at Hastings and Nanaimo. They have a menu on Facebook, but no website and no ingredient listings. I think they’re pretty good at responding to questions, though. The black tea, being Asian Pear, is a lot more delicate and probably not the pear taste you’re looking for. Bartlett Rooibos smells… like ripe pears. Maybe like pear jelly beans? IDK. I’m trying to think of a way to describe the flavour without remembering what it smelled like.

Delicate pear taste is probably ok, as long as it’s not strangely floral.

And that’s actually really funny – unless I’m mistaken, I suspect I’ve actually been to that Donald’s Market (albeit not for a few years). And if it’s the one I’m thinking of, then it’s a quick walk from my aunt’s place. When I get the chance I’ll ask them a few questions and see about getting some samples! Unless my aunt is familiar with that tea shop already, I may request you to pick some stuff up for me, if that would be cool – I can send you things in return :D

Thanks Kashyap – I’ll add that to my shopping list. The tea I had from S&V happened to be pear/ginger as well, and I do like ginger, so that sounds like it could be worth a shot if I can get my hands on some!

Darky – ewwwwwwwww lol. I’m so glad that DNA testing was done on hamburger meat from various local sources by my university, and EVERYTHING was found to be 100% beef (when it was supposed to be).

A local place carries TWO pear teas, but unfortunately they don’t do any online ordering. There’s an Asian Pear green, and a Bartlett rooibos. If you’re interested I could ask for samples, but you’d have to be OK with a fellow Steepster as a shipper. :) I can’t stand pear flavour, so any testing I did of them would be incredibly biased!

kittena, so long that not is wrong with the horse meat (quality wise) i don’t mind eating horsemeat. Here in Belgium we eat it on a regular base but the labels on the packaging should be correct thats for sure. But i feel its a very big waste destroying or trowing away good food just because the type off meat is different… if it was contaminated with all kinds off weird stuff ok then its normal but now? :)

OMGsrsly – ooooh, I totally want details! I see you’re in Vancouver; depending on whereabouts the tea shop is, I could possibly have my aunt pick some sample up for me and send them as she lives in Burnaby. Not that I’d have any problem at all being sent samples from a fellow Steepster :D

darky – I think the biggest problem is mislabeling, and the fact that horses are not considered food here. I don’t personally think I could stomach it, even though I know it’s really very little different from beef or any other meat. Just like I don’t think I could eat dog or cat (though that’s a bit different, as they’re also carnivores, which we don’t typically consume meat from).

It’s Steam Tea House in Donald’s Market at Hastings and Nanaimo. They have a menu on Facebook, but no website and no ingredient listings. I think they’re pretty good at responding to questions, though. The black tea, being Asian Pear, is a lot more delicate and probably not the pear taste you’re looking for. Bartlett Rooibos smells… like ripe pears. Maybe like pear jelly beans? IDK. I’m trying to think of a way to describe the flavour without remembering what it smelled like.

Delicate pear taste is probably ok, as long as it’s not strangely floral.

And that’s actually really funny – unless I’m mistaken, I suspect I’ve actually been to that Donald’s Market (albeit not for a few years). And if it’s the one I’m thinking of, then it’s a quick walk from my aunt’s place. When I get the chance I’ll ask them a few questions and see about getting some samples! Unless my aunt is familiar with that tea shop already, I may request you to pick some stuff up for me, if that would be cool – I can send you things in return :D

Profile

Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.